Clydebank 3 GHK 13

We all knew this was the most important game so far this league season and so expectations were high and all were right up for the fray.
We lost the toss and had to face the wind and difficult low sun for the first half. Despite the dreadful wet weather of the past few weeks, the Clydebank pitch was in extremely good nick and we had hopes for our speedy and skilful backs.
Clydebank had other ideas and, after 10 minutes of even contest, the big, streetwise Clydebank pack began to make life pretty difficult. The solid Clydebank half backs were also going to be a problem. Also a special mention for Clydebank’s right winger who stuck to his task and kept the league’s top scorer at bay with some good pace and tackling.
Robbie Stewart launched a garrryowen and Danny Hoffman followed up and took the ball well passing on to Mike Borthwick to give us a good position inside the opposition 22. This came to nothing as we lost possession but Mike Aird put us back in the right part of the field with a good kick from the base of the scrum. From here we were awarded a difficult penalty shot which the new Chris Paterson aka Davy Whyte slotted. 17 minutes gone 0 - 3.
The next 10 minutes saw pretty continuous pressure from Clydebank and our defence had to be solid to keep them out. However, the ref spotted a punch from one of the Clydebank forwards and out came the yellow card. This gave us the chance to keep them at bay for the next 10 minutes until half time.
The second half saw Clydebank back to full strength and soon they were rewarded with a penalty which was duly converted: 3-3.
No great surprise when Clydebank charged forward, camped on our line and battered away at us. Our defence was sound (Ken Cowan’s extra training session showing through) and some really gutsy tackling again kept them at bay. This pressure was on for a good 15 minutes and the end came with some quick thinking by Gordy Reid to nip through a gap and move the ball on to Mike Borthwick who charged up field. Gordy was not content with this, though, and was on had to take the scoring pass back from Mike to make it 3-5. Davy grabbed the extras and with 19 mins of the second half gone and it was 3-10.
Clydebank gave us another lifeline with another yellow card and the penalty let Robbie Stewart put us into their 22. A couple of minutes later and we got another penalty and Davy duly banged it over to take us to 3-13 and Clydebank out of bonus point territory.
Given the close nature of this league, keeping it this way was crucial.
We were a bit unlucky with a lovely break from Rory Love and Andy Fleming nearly putting Andy McTavish in to seal things. Clydebank covered well, however, and the score was unaffected. The last few minutes saw more serious pressure from Clydebank close to our line but more stalwart defending saw us hold out to finish off the game 3-13. No bonus point for us but a really hard fought and well deserved win. Nothing like the spectacle of last week but we showed considerable maturity in getting down to the hard graft to keep a strong forward pack from crossing our line. Well done all.
The Veep

Team A. Fleming, M. Taylor, D. Whyte, D. Hoffman, R. Love, R. Stewart, M. Aird, A. Forbes, G. Reid, S.Cameron, H. Parker, A. Drummond, A. McTavish, S. McCaffrey, M. Borthwick. Replacements C. McLay, G. Woolard, J. Mihill

This article was posted on 26-Jan-2009, 19:54 by Hugh Barrow.